The present invention relates to an assembly including a dolly and a plurality of supports which are removably mounted at different levels in the dolly for housing, conveying and bringing forth a plurality of tools, particularly in the operation of machines of the numerically controlled type.
More specifically, the present invention is directed to an assembly of the type identified above and for the purposes as referred to, but which has a novel configuration and arrangement of components, whereby an improved convenience and practicality of application and use is conferred to the assembly and to the components thereof, above all in the operation of numerically controlled machine tools.
As is well known, a plurality of different tools is usually required by machines of the numerically controlled type, such tools being changed by the operator when one or more of the programmed operations performed by each machine is to be modified. Therefore, as is also known, each machine is usually serviced by a dolly, whereon all tools which may be required on a given machine are arranged in an ordered manner, to allow the operator to remove therefrom the tools required for the next machining step, and to replace in an orderly manner all the tools removed from the machine that are no longer required. It is also known to arrange the tools on a plurality of supports that are individually removable from the body of the dolly, so that the supports, along with their tools, may be placed within closed containers, e.g. cabinets or chests of drawers, to thereby store the tools when immediate utilization thereof is not foreseen.
Different ways for the realization of such assembly are already known. There is known a structure comprising supports shaped as flat, shallow trays, wherein tool retaining components are slidingly fitted on guides, so as to lock the components in any required position. Such shallow trays can be hooked at both ends thereof on two front walls of the dolly, and when needed the trays can be removed therefrom and replaced, along with their tools, in drawers or the like. In such a case, the tools are always arranged vertically, both in the dolly and in the drawers, in the latter position by means of suitable feet with which the supports are fitted. However, this implies a remarkable difficulty on the part of the operator when taking up or putting back tools located in lower levels of the dolly. Additionally, the vertical arrangement in drawers is made more difficult by the particular position in which the tools are retained, since the tools may project substantially below the related supporting plane.
In another already known arrangement, recourse is made to supports having a first vertical wall fitted with hooking means and a second further wall which is inclined with respect to the first wall, the tools being housed on the second wall. In this case, no difficulties are encountered in removing the tools from the dolly or in replacing them. However, further drawbacks arise due to the danger of particularly long tools which project out of the dolly, as well as to the necessity of having the supports housed in a particular way (i.e. on vertical racks) within closed containers.